Chickasaw

Tells the story of the Chickasaw people through vivid photography and rich essays.

For 350 years the Chickasaws-one of the Five Civilized Tribes-made a sustained effort to preserve their tribal institutions and independence in the face of increasing encroachments by white men. This is the first book-length account of their valiant-but doomed-struggle. Against an ethnohistorical background, the author relates the story of the Chickasaws from their first recorded contacts with Europeans in the lower Mississippi Valley in 1540 to final dissolution of the Chickasaw Nation in 1906. Included are the years of alliance with the British, the dealings with the Americans, and the inevitable removal to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in 1837 under pressure from settlers in Mississippi and Alabama. Among the significant events in Chickasaw history were the tribe’s surprisingly strong alliance with the South during the Civil War and the federal actions thereafter which eventually resulted in the absorption of the Chickasaw Nation into the emerging state of Oklahoma.

C is for Chickasaw walks children through the letters of the alphabet, sharing elements of Chickasaw history, language, and culture along the way. Writing with multiple age groups in mind, Wiley Barnes has skillfully crafted rhyming verse that will capture and engage a younger child s imagination, while also including in-depth explanations of each object or concept that will resonate with older children. The colorful illustrations by Aaron Long reflect elements of Southeastern Native American art and serve to familiarize children with aspects of this distinctive artistic style. A supplementary section with questions and activities provides a springboard for further discussion and learning.

An important member of the Muskogean language family, Chickasaw is an endangered language spoken today by fewer than two hundred people, primarily in the Chickasaw Nation of south-central Oklahoma. Let’s Speak Chickasaw Chikashshanompa’ Kilanompoli’ is both the first textbook of the Chickasaw language and its first complete grammar. A collaboration between Pamela Munro, a linguist with an intimate knowledge of Chickasaw, and Catherine Willmond, a native speaker, this book is designed for beginners as well as intermediate students. Twenty units cover pronunciation, word building, sentence structure, and usage. Each includes four to eight short lessons accompanied by exercises that introduce additional information about the language. Each unit also includes dialogues or readings that reflect language use by native speakers to increase students’ understanding of how words and sentences are put together. Additional “Beyond the Grammar” sections offer insight into the history of the language and fine points of usage. Extensive Chickasaw-English and English-Chickasaw vocabularies are included. The text is written in a conversational style and defines terms in everyday language to help students master grammatical concepts. The authors developed the spelling system they use here based on earlier orthographies for Chickasaw and Choctaw. An accompanying CD provides examples of spoken Chickasaw that convey fine points of pronunciation. Classroom-tested for more than fourteen years, Let’s Speak Chickasaw is the only complete and linguistically sound analysis of Chickasaw, treating it as a living language rather than as a cultural artifact. It is a vital resource for scholars of American Indian linguistics and a rich repository of the language and culture of the Chickasaw people.

Yet another competently prepared, useful bibliography in this growing series....An important addition for any large native American collection. --ARBA ...a significant addition to the Native American Bibliography Series...a valuable starting point for future research on all aspects of Chickasaw history and culture. --AMERICAN INDIAN QUARTERLY